Shubal was born on January 28, 1706 in Boston, Massachussets, United States, the son of Shubael (sic) and Rebecca (Larrabee or Lariby) Stearns and a descendant of the Charles Stearns who was admitted a freeman of Watertown, Massachussets, in 1646. In 1715 the family moved to Tolland, Connecticut, where the father was one of the original land grantees and became the second town clerk.
In 1751 Stearns became convinced that believer's immersion was the New Testament baptism and was immersed by the Rev. Wait Palmer, who also participated on May 20, 1751, in his ordination as a Baptist minister. Although he continued to preach in New England for two years or more, he had a compelling inward conviction that he was called to a work outside that region.
Accordingly, with several married couples from the community, including some relatives, he went southward to Virginia, sojourning first at Opequon Creek and then at Cacapon. Here his brother-in-law, Daniel Marshall, who had married Shubal's gifted sister, Martha, joined them and soon the group moved to Sandy Creek, North Carolina.
There, in 1755, they organized a Baptist church, Stearns being chosen pastor, a position he retained during the rest of his life.
Like the Regular Baptists of the Southern colonies, these Separate Baptists, as they were known, were Calvinists, but they had an evangelistic zeal which was their most distinctive character. Stearns himself as a preaching evangelist had been rated by some as next to Whitefield in effectiveness.
He died on November 20, 1771 in his sixty-fifth year.
Stearns believed that God pours his spirit like water upon a new believer, requiring no special learning or instruction; and this 'outpouring' swiftly became a flood that spread from Sandy Creek throughout all parts of the southern frontier.
Quotes from others about the person
Morgan Edwards has given the classic description of Stearns: "He was but a little man but of good natural parts, and sound judgment. Of learning he had but a small share, yet was pretty well acquainted with books. His voice was musical and strong. . His character was indisputably good. In his eyes was something very penetrating - there seemed to be a meaning in every glance".
On March 6, 1726/27, Shubal married Sarah Johnson of Lexington, Massachussets Coming under the influence of the Great Awakening, he attached himself to the New Lights (Separatists) in 1745 and became a preacher among them.
